Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Many of the responses revolved around the assumption that the prohibition of kol isha (males hearing the voice of a woman) was founded on the idea of the potential of kol isha קול אשה to arouse sexual desire. However, I really don't think this is the case.

I think it is more founded on the idea that "all blessings flow from the mothers" (Sefer Yetzirah). In other words, the concern has to do with the mystical power to bless or curse inherent in the "mystical voice-kol קול (which is the aur chayah) of a woman".

As I've written previously about the isha/itta distinction; isha אשה is of Canaanite origin and represents a soul level unbound to the mitzvot. Consequently, the mystical "voice" קול of isha אשה can introduce "multiplicity disconnected from its source" (in opposition to unity in multiplicity) into reality. This is what the prohibition of kol isha is trying to avoid by forbidding men (as primary representatives of the collective vav in the Divine Name) to hear the voice of isha.

In contradistinction, itta אתתא is bound to the mitzvot. Consequently, kol itta קול אתתא is doubly connected to aur chayah through both categories of mitzvot, tithes and offerings. Moreover and significantly, aur chayah is associated with shabbat consciousness. Shabbat consciousness is the condition associated with the Tree of Life and rectified natural consciousness, as opposed to fallen natural consciousness and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.